Scottish Executive

Agriculture and Fisheries Council

Maureen Macmillan (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will report on the outcome of the Agriculture and Fisheries Council held in Brussels on 24 May 2004.

Ross Finnie: I attended the one-day Agriculture and Fisheries Council in Brussels on 24 May 2004 with Ben Bradshaw.

  On fisheries, the Council reached political agreement on the Regulation establishing regional advisory councils (RACs). The creation of RACs is a key element in the continuing reform of the Common Fisheries Policy; the regulation represents an important step towards greater regional management of Europe’s fisheries and it reflects the important work that has been undertaken by the North Sea Commission’s Fisheries Partnership. RACs will now bring together fishermen, scientists and all those with an environmental or economic interest in fisheries, to advise on the fisheries management issues within their designated areas. The Council of Ministers decided to establish seven RACs, including those for the North Sea; the North Western Waters; and the widely disbursed Pelagic fisheries (mackerel, herring, blue whiting and horse mackerel). The Regulation provides RACs with the operating principles and guidelines that are necessary to perform their work, and also provides each RAC with Community financial assistance for start-up and operating costs. Discussion at Council concerned the appropriate level of funding and the requirement for RACs to work transparently, in public. A compromise agreement on these issues was reached – and supported by the United Kingdom.

  The Council also reached a political agreement on amending the current Financial Instrument for Fisheries Guidance (FIFG) Regulation (2792/1999), in order to further specify the detailed rules regarding structural assistance for the fisheries sector. The amendment was technical and detailed, and limited in its scope. It was proposed to clarify arrangements, especially for the benefit of new member states, and also to support implementation of the Community’s recently agreed strategic framework for aquaculture. Discussions in Council centred on proposed changes to the regulation concerning circumstances for socio-economic assistance, support for environmentally friendly fishing methods, the appropriate level of private contribution rates, compensation for shellfish farmers and available assistance to vessels affected by stock recovery plans. The United Kingdom raised concerns that interventions could lead to unfair competition and, with the support of others, secured a compromise agreement that ensured any such interventions would only apply either in exceptional circumstances or within specified set limits.

  Both the regulations will now be adopted without further discussion, at a later date, following the translation of the political agreements into all Community languages.

  Under any other business, the United Kingdom provided written information and a statement to Council on Net Benefits, the UK Cabinet Office’s recent report to government on the future of the fishing industry and the Commission reported the development of increased enforcement activity by Canadian authorities in the NAFO (North Atlantic) regulatory area.

  There was no substantive discussion on agriculture matters.

Bridges

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether its review of toll bridges will fully take into account economic and employment considerations and when the report of the review will be published.

Nicol Stephen: I shall be making an announcement on these matters very shortly.

Child Protection

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is intended to publish the results of the investigation by the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration into the cases of children who have been removed from a parent alleged to be suffering from Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy.

Euan Robson: As I said during the debate on Children’s Hearings on 18 May, ministers have received a report from the Scottish Children’s Reporters Administration summarising the conclusions of their work on Munchausen’s syndrome by proxy. We are now considering what steps to take next, including publication of the contents of the report, and will announce our decisions in due course.

Culture

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether agreement has been reached in respect of the future of Scottish Opera.

Mr Frank McAveety: Yes. We want to ensure that Scottish audiences have the opportunity to enjoy the highest quality and widest range of cultural experiences we can provide. Opera provision is a key part of the cultural landscape – and one which we want to retain.

  Scottish Opera has worked hard in recent months, with our and the Scottish Arts Council’s help, to draw up plans to set the company on a stable footing for the future and to identify a clear vision for opera provision in Scotland.

  Today we are in a position to provide information on Scottish Opera’s announcement of the way forward.

  Following a period of transition over the next two years, Scottish Opera aims to have completed the process of re-establishing itself in the cultural life of the country. Scottish Opera’s plans for the future involve:

  Main scale and medium scale productions in the cities of Scotland

  Smaller scale productions in remoter parts of the country

  Primary schools education programmes

  Secondary school syllabus work

  Work with youth and the over 50s

  All of this will lead to the development of a cohesive cultural strategy for the company as a whole.

  We have always maintained that Scottish Opera should be capable of living within its budget. We are reaffirming that view today. Scottish Opera takes a very significant share of the Scottish Arts Council’s resources, and it is vital going forward that it be managed in a way which does not lead to one financial crisis after another. At the end of last financial year, the company had overspent its grant by over £4 million. It is the responsibility of everyone to use public money effectively. Such overspending cannot continue. The Board of Scottish Opera has accepted that a fundamental restructuring of its operation is required to ensure the company lives within its known means and that no further options exist for future intervention by the Executive.

  Scottish ministers have been clear from the start of this process – we want a first class national opera company that is structured in a way to make sure that its future is sustainable. Because of this commitment, we recognise that a degree of short-term additional investment will be necessary to help the company deliver the changes it has decided on. That is why we have agreed to invest additional resources over the next two years to support the plan drawn up by Scottish Opera to ensure it is placed on a stable financial footing for the future.

  We shall be making available up to £7 million to support the business plan during the transition period. This will allow Scottish Opera to run down its accumulated deficit and take the necessary steps to restructure, so that we do not end up in this situation again in a few years time. This includes provision to cover the possible losses which the Edinburgh Festival Theatre and the Theatre Royal in Glasgow may incur due to the fact that no main scale opera will be performed by Scottish Opera between June 2005 and March 2006.

  There will sadly be job losses to get the company into shape, but the funding we are providing should enable the company to keep redundancies to a minimum.

  It no longer makes sense for Scottish Opera to run a commercial theatre in Glasgow whilst also running an opera production company. Scottish Opera is expected to conclude a deal to lease the Theatre Royal to another operator, freeing it to focus on what it does best. Scottish Opera will also review the future of its technical services department.

  We also support the view that the future business plan can best be implemented by Scottish Opera and Scottish Ballet restructuring into two separate companies with the management and artistic team of the Opera fully committed to its vision and business plan.

  The precise financial details need to be worked through by Scottish Opera and the Scottish Arts Council and will remain commercially confidential for the time being. We need to ensure that we get maximum value for money from taxpayers’ funds.

  Scottish ministers are committed to ensuring that we continue to enjoy a vibrant cultural scene here in Scotland, and that our creative talents are used to promote Scotland to the outside world. That is why we have agreed to support today Scottish Opera’s plans to ensure a successful and sustainable future for Scottish Opera.

  Although the restructuring process will undoubtedly be painful, I am confident that with the full delivery of Scottish Opera’s plan, opera provision for Scotland can now have a secure place on the Scottish cultural scene in the future.

Freight

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it will take to promote the take-up of the waterborne freight grant scheme and whether it considers that any ports in Scotland have particular potential in this regard.

Nicol Stephen: Once the guidance and rules of the waterborne freight grant (WFG) scheme have been finalised it will be promoted by the Scottish Executive. We will ensure that all sectors of the freight industry including shipping companies, ports and logistics companies are aware of the opportunities that the new grant scheme will offer.

  The great length of our coastline means that there is considerable potential for transferring freight from roads to water in many parts of Scotland. It will be for the freight industry to identify which Scottish ports could most appropriately handle new WFG supported traffic flows.

Higher Education

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there are sufficient numbers graduating from higher education institutions with qualifications in chemistry and other closely-related subjects.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Scottish Executive is not aware of any data which would provide a reliable basis for assessing what number of graduates in chemistry and closely-related subjects might be regarded as sufficient, and is not confident that it is possible to produce such data. Although there have been no recent representations to the Executive of a shortage of graduates in these disciplines, the Executive is aware of concerns about a long-term falling trend in the level of demand from school-leavers to study chemistry at degree level. We are exploring with Future Skills Scotland the scope for developing better information on the supply of and demand for people with science qualifications.

Justice

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many instances of reoffending whilst a person is tagged have occurred in each year since tagging was introduced and in each case what offence took place and what action was taken.

Cathy Jamieson: Like other community disposals, breach of a restriction of liberty order is not an offence but is reported to the court simply as a breach. We do not hold centrally records on reoffending as the commission of a further offence by anyone subject to any community disposal is a matter for the police and the procurator fiscal.

  Restriction of liberty orders have only been available across Scotland since May 2002. The follow-up data on reconvictions of the offenders subject to these orders will be published in the next Statistical Bulletin in spring 2005.

Nursing

Helen Eadie (Dunfermline East) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended student nurse and midwife intake figures are for 2004-05.

Malcolm Chisholm: Informed by the Student Nurse Intake Planning recommendations, the agreed commissioning numbers for 2004-05 for each of the nursing and midwifery categories are shown in the table below.

  Nurse Category

  


 RN - General
 RN - Children
 RN – Mental Health
 RN – Learning Disability
 Registered Midwife
 Total




 2,750
 180
 750
 75
 200
 3,955




  The total number is slightly higher than last year, which was an all time high.

Public Transport

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will introduce a Scotland-wide and multi-modal bus, train and ferry free-travel scheme for senior citizens and, if so, how much such a scheme will cost and when it will be introduced.

Nicol Stephen: The Executive’s priority for concessionary travel for older people and people with disabilities is the introduction of a national free off-peak bus scheme. Firm estimates as to the cost of the scheme will be developed in light of discussions with key stakeholders. We are committed to introducing the national free off-peak bus scheme by 2007.

Rail Network

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what weighting will be given to social inclusion criteria in deciding whether or not there should be a stop at Stow on the Borders railway.

Nicol Stephen: The specification for the proposed Borders Railway – including the location of stations along its route – is the responsibility of the Waverley Railway Partnership. The Scottish Executive requires that our Scottish Transport Appraisal Guidance (STAG) is applied to all significant transport schemes. The STAG assessment process gives fair consideration to a scheme’s potential to improve: the environment; safety; the economy; integration; accessibility, and social inclusion.

Rail Network

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much public financial support was given to companies providing rail and passenger services in each year from 1999 to 2003, broken down into type of support given.

Nicol Stephen: I refer the member to the answer given to the question S2W-920 on 3 September 2003. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Smoking

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will undertake the national consultation on smoking in public places, which it committed itself to in its Tobacco Control Action Plan, A Breath of Fresh Air for Scotland , published in January 2004.

Mr Tom McCabe: The consultation on smoking in public places will be launched today and will run until the end of September. The consultation will test public opinion on the need for legislation to prohibit or restrict smoking in public places and to offer individuals, businesses and organisations the opportunity to put forward suggestions for alternative approaches. The consultation is part of wider evidence gathering to inform the Executive’s future policy on reducing exposure to second-hand smoke.

  Copies of the consultation materials are available at www.scotland.gov.uk/smokingconsultation/ and responses can be submitted online.

  Copies of Smoking in Public Places – a consultation on reducing exposure to second hand smoke have been placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 32879).

Tartan Day

Jim Mather (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who the members of the Tartan Day working group are; what objectives the group has; when it last met, and when it next plans to meet.

Mr Andy Kerr: The Tartan Day Working Group was set up to take forward and co-ordinate the participation by the numerous Scottish public organisations interested in participating in the Tartan Day 2004 celebrations. The objectives of the group are to co-ordinate activity to maximise impact. Its current members are:

  The Scottish Executive (Chair)

  The Scottish Parliament

  Scottish Development International

  VisitScotland

  The Scottish Arts Council

  National Museums of Scotland

  The British Council

  Edinburgh City Council

  Glasgow City Council

  The Royal Society of Edinburgh

  Scottish Screen

  University of Edinburgh

  University of Dundee

  The group met at regular intervals from the autumn of 2003 through to March 2004. This approach to planning and co-ordination proved successful and is one we shall repeat for Tartan Day 2005, ensuring the maximum public sector engagement and developing new links with the private sector.

Tourism

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress has been made in achieving the targets set out in Tourism Framework for Action , published in 2002.

Mr Frank McAveety: I am pleased to announce that real progress has been achieved since the publication of the Tourism Framework for Action in 2002. A Progress Report for 2003-04 will be published today that reflects a number of initiatives that have been taken forward by public and private sector partners working together to contribute towards the growth of tourism in Scotland. Copies of the report have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre under (Bib. number 32869).